Christmas Vacation
by Kate Nox
Summary: A teenage Sirius is called home by a very angry father.


Sirius piled up all of his books and shoved them into the corner of his desk. He straightened his quills, and piled his parchments. He made his bed by hand. He stowed his broom carefully beneath his tidy bed. He closed the window.

He wanted to scream.

His parents were coming home tonight. It would be the first time he had seen them in over three months; it was Christmas vacation, and they were still off on business. They had demanded that he return home, and he still didn't know why. Based on the howler, however, he had guessed it wasn't just to spend Christmas together. Usually he was aloud to spend Christmas up at Hogwarts; but not this year. Regulus wasn't even home. He was stuck here all alone, just waiting for them to return, with no one but the house elves for company.

The waiting was terrible. He knew he was in trouble, but he didn't know why. His imagination tortured him with countless scenarios and possibilities. What had they found out? How? Had Dumbledore sent a letter home? He tried to remember any of his recent pranks, but nothing major came to mind. Or, at least nothing that he thought could be easily tied to him. Just last week he and James had filled the third floor boys' lavatories with viscous snapping water snakes, but they had been careful not to leave a calling card. What had they found out? Sirius thought about the water snakes and couldn't help a smile, but it quickly vanished as he went back to worrying about his parents.

Sirius sank down onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. He wanted to go out flying so badly, or work on his motorcycle, or talk to James or Remus, or even Peter- but he didn't want his parents to come home and find him doing something that displeased them. Usually Sirius wouldn't care what his parents thought of him, but tonight was different. He had a gut feeling that he wasn't facing just a broom confiscation, or a grounding, or any of the other more elaborate punishments his parents had dreamed up for him in the past. Tonight was something major. His parents had sacrificed a whole vacation without him, just for this one punishment. It had to be something bad.

Sirius heard a noise from down the stairs. He stopped breathing to listen closely. He heard footsteps, and voices.

They were home.

He pulled himself off of his bed to grab a school book and pretend to be reading. He knew they would come up straight to his room. He tried to focus on the Potions book in front of him, just to distract his mind, but it seemed to have other plans. He felt a mounting panic begin to take hold in his mind. Footsteps started up the stairs with a quick, busy pounding. His father.

"Sirius! Are you home?" He called.

"Yes," Sirius answered apprehensively, "I'm in my room." He had barely finished his sentence when his door flew open, and his father stood framed in the doorway. Any hope that Sirius had harbored about surviving this meeting quickly vanished. Mr. Black's face was patchy with suppressed rage, and his eyes fixed on Sirius with a murderous intensity. He was breathing heavily from the stairs, and gave off an impression of a steaming bull. It was then that the dreaded question came.

"Do you have something to tell me, Sirius Black?" He asked. Sirius didn't know what to say. Should he confess? What if he picked the wrong crime? A million other adventures from school that had previously eluded him instantly popped into his head, each one worse than the last. He was only a second year, but he and his friends got around. Was it the fireworks incident? The midnight trip to Hogsmeade? Or worse, had he found out about the Animagi plan? Sirius felt his heart skip a beat. He suddenly realized that he had left his wand beside his books, across the room. He definitely felt very vulnerable without it.

"ANSWER ME!" His father bellowed. Sirius' throat clenched. He was trapped. There was no way out. He felt the panic rising throughout his body, denying any reason or logic he attempted to quell it with.

Then a sudden resolve came over him._ Whatever he knows_, he thought, _I'm stuck with whatever happens_. _Freaking out is not going to help me at all_. For some reason, this thought gave him a little strength. He refused to act like a child. He stood up from his bed and stood in front of his father, the top of his head barely reaching the wizard's chin. He looked him straight in the eye, and didn't say a word.


End file.
